Blackbird Singing in the Dead of Night
by UnderdogFan1254
Summary: "Take these broken wings and learn to fly…" / Cloudstar has lost SkyClan's territory and been denied help by the other clan leaders. He has a new plan to save his clan, ethical or not.
1. Chapter 1

(this was meant to be a one-shot, but I broke it up so it's easier to digest)

(also please don't call me out on ThunderClan being bordered by Twolegplace. pretend they aren't bc thats how i wrote this)

(...)

(...)

Cloudstar's eyes went wide at the other leader's decision. He lashed his tail and turned back to his clanmates, claws unsheathed and fangs bared in spite of their state.

"Warriors of SkyClan," he commanded, "We are not cowards, but this is not a battle we can win. We have seen tonight what the warrior code is worth. From now on, we will be alone and depend on no cats but ourselves."

He turned around to face Birdflight, laying on the ground with their two kits suckling hopelessly at her belly, pretending she had any milk left. He quickly picked up Spottedkit by the scruff, the calico mewling. They were too young, too innocent, to know what was happening. Buzzardtail followed suit with the other.

"Cloudstar!" Birdflight yowled, rushing after him. "No! Our kits are too small to make such a big journey!"

Cloudstar didn't say anything or make any movements. He had a plan, and he couldn't let any of the other leaders know about it. He stuck his tail straight up and pointed the tip, calling for his clan to follow.

Cloudstar headed up the hollow and toward the Thunderpath. He could feel the weary gazes of his clanmates. He turned and started to walk along the edge. Past ThunderClan's border, past ShadowClan's tunnel, past the other border. Until he found a small meadow, just the right size for his tiny clan. One big log fell across the place, and two of the three big oaks had owl holes of varying sizes. The one without an owl hole had a stale fox den under. Nursery, medicine den, leader's outcrop, he decided.

He motioned for Birdflight to seek shelter in the fox den before placing their kits back at her belly. Steadily, his clanmates flooded in. It was much smaller than their old camp, and really wasn't much of a camp at all, but it would work until Cloudstar could put his plan into action.

He took a full SkyClan leap up and landed in the highest owl hole. He let out a meow, not wanting to alert anything nearby.

"Clanmates, this will be our camp for the time being. I have a plan for all of us, don't worry. Do not hunt near the ThunderClan border."

He leaped back down and was about to stand guard for Birdflight, when Buzzardtail rushed up.

"Cloudstar, whatever could your plan be? We are weak. We can't possibly fight ThunderClan and win."

Cloudstar tapped his tailtip to his shoulder. "You worry about that when we get stronger."


	2. Chapter 2

It had been several moons since Cloudstar had decreed that territory SkyClan. Without true boundaries, prey was plentiful. Birdflight's kits were weaned. Inwardly she wondered if Cloudstar no longer acknowledging the code meant that they'd be made apprentices early.

_...speaking of Cloudstar…._

"Hazelwing?" she mewed, "Have you seen Cloudstar lately? Or Buzzardtail for that matter?"

Hazelwing sat down the fat thrush she held, her kits emerging from the den and wolfing it down.

"No," she meowed, then looked around camp. Birdflight followed her gaze. It seemed that Fawnstep, Nightfur, Quailheart, the apprentices and elders were the only cats _in_ camp.

"I'm sure they're just out hunting," Hazelwing said with a shrug, "Lots of prey, lots of cats!"

Birdflight looked back at the lack of cats. "Yeah…" she sighed, "I thought he'd know better. If we overhunt in greenleaf, we won't have any prey left in leafbare, and if we don't have prey in leafbare, we won't have prey to reproduce in newleaf and we'll be starving all over again…"

Hazelwing shrugged and laid down beside her. "I suppose. You remember all those tales Petalfall used to tell us as kits? About Skystar?"

Birdflight smiled and huffed a laugh, "Which one about Skystar? He did lots of things, you know."

"The one where, when he was just Sky, he marked all the territory from Twolegplace to the Thunderpath as his. Even tried to claim Fourtrees?"

"Yeah?"

"And how he killed many rogues to manage it?"

"Yes."

"I do wonder, and I don't mean to offend you, if Cloudstar is following the pawsteps of leaders past."

Birdflight let out a sigh. "Sk-Skystar did lots of good things too," she tried to argue.

"That doesn't mean we should excuse his bad actions, Birdflight."

Birdflight shifted. "We shouldn't. But his bad actions don't mean we should excuse his good ones."

Mintpaw, Buzzardtail's oldest daughter, looked up at the sky before whispering to her siblings. The apprentices all stood and headed past the nursery toward the ThunderClan border.

Birdflight narrowed her eyes and stood to follow. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked before they could leave the clearing.

The three jumped and, wide-eyed, they all turned back. Tansypaw was the first to speak.

"We wanted to go see the old border!" she mewed.

"Yeah," Mintpaw went on, glancing nervously at her siblings, "We wanted to see if they came across Weaselwhisker's body yet."

Birdflight flexed her claws and she could feel a wave of heartbreak coming from Hazelwing, who was only a pawstep or two away. Weaselwhisker had been killed in a battle over Duskstar's Clearing. Specifically, the battle that SkyClan _couldn't _lose. Not only had they lost the clearing, Weaselwhisker had lost his life, Hazelwing had lost her brother, and Mousefang and Stoatfur had lost their father.

"That's very irresponsible of you," Birdflight mewed, "What would've happened if one of the Twolegs scooped you up, hm?"

Snailpaw shifted his paws awkwardly and stared at the ground. "We were going to go along ThunderClan's border and see if our parents were there."

Birdflight felt a weight lift off her shoulders, only to be replaced with another. Why were these kits first thought that Buzzardtail and Fernpelt were trespassing? Quailheart and Fawnstep stepped out of the elder's den, soon followed by Hawksnow.

"I'll go with," Quailheart meowed, stepping closer, "They've been out _all day._ So have most of our warriors, might as well make sure ThunderClan didn't use that _outside of the warrior code _against us."

Birdflight shuddered as the thought of Cloudstar crossed her mind. ThunderClan was always cruel, that was made clear no sooner than when Nettleclaw murdered Weaselwhisker. Could they have given her mate a wound so awful that not even StarClan could heal it?

"Yes," mewed Hawksnow as Fawnstep pulled the apprentice-sized Webkit off of Gorsekit, only roughing up his pelt more, "And we'll all stay here with the kits."

Birdflight nodded and Hazelwing smiled up at her. Quailheart took up the lead of the patrol while Birdflight took the back. The apprentices pressed close to eachother, looking around nervously. Birdflight couldn't help but wonder if they knew something they shouldn't.

Grass crunched in front of them and a dark ginger head emerged from above a bush. A black one, who's ear was torn clean off and still bloody, followed. Quailheart blinked.

"Nightfur! Are you alright? Did a fox find you?"

"Not fox," the black tom responded, face twisting in that malicious smile he always held when there was a war recently fought, "ThunderClan."

Birdflight stepped forward and faced Buzzardtail, "Is Cloudstar alright?"

Buzzardtail smiled, "Wonderful. Can't say the same for Redstar, however."

Nightfur faced the apprentices, "Now that we've won," he said, smile still not fading, "Why don't you live up to your promise and bring SkyClan to ThunderClan's camp, hm?"

Birdflight felt her heart sink and her fur rise. She didn't know which one she should snap at, the warriors or apprentices, but she felt the need to yell "_WHAT have you been DOING?"_

She restrained herself and let the two toms step around the bush, making more still-bleeding scars known to the patrol.


	3. Chapter 3

Fawnstep was very startled at the two's state.

"Let me treat your wounds," she mewed, trying to press a leaf to a scar on Nightfur's hide.

The tom snapped at her paw. "No! You can treat our wounds with Kestrelwing."

Fawnstep stepped back, "But Kestrelwing is ThunderClan's medicine cat…" her eyes widened in realization, "Nightfur, you _didn't-"_

Nightfur gained that smile again. "Oh, Fawnstep, we did." He then scooped up Spottedkit. Birdflight heard his statement and saw her sister's horrified eyes. She let out a breath and looked to Buzzardtail, who was helping Starlingfeather stand up.

"How's Fernpelt?" she asked.

"Fine!" Buzzardtail responded happily. Too happily for a tom who had just raided a clan.

Birdflight picked up Gorsekit while Hazelwing held Webkit. Buzzardtail had Emberkit, Fawnstep had Mistlekit, Quailheart had Hatchkit and Nightfur had Spottedkit. Hawksnow was helping his elderly mate along while Beechpaw and Acornpaw stood on his other side in case he fell.

They rounded around the bramble-woven wall that guarded the walls of the ThunderClan camp. No, Birdflight told herself, no way had they managed to slaughter the whole of ThunderClan. Nightfur, in the head of the patrol, set down Spottedkit at the start of the rocky tunnel and instructed her to lead them in and be careful.

Spottedkit proudly stuck her tail straight in the air and hopped down. The patrol followed. Nightfur let Birdflight set down Gorsekit- though, truthfully, she never wanted to let him go again. Nightfur immediately led the kittens under ferns, where two brown faces stuck out. Fernpelt, Stoatfur, Cloudstar, and Mousefang were standing in a line in front of something. Except for Rainleap, who was holding down Seedpelt by the head.

The kits all ducked into the nursery, but the two faces still stayed, eyes wide. Cloudstar stood and sweeped his tail, parting his warriors.

There laid Redstar, even redder from his blood. He was so mangled, he looked as if they'd taken all his lives in one fell swoop- one foul, foul, foul swoop.

Amberclaw let out a whimper at the sight of his brother. Birdflight couldn't believe her eyes. Her heart skipped a beat and she wanted to yowl, but her throat was suddenly too dry to make _any_ sound.

Bloomheart and Deerdapple exchanged glances and curled their tails around Seedpaw and Thrushpaw. Rabbitfur pulled Oakpaw a bit closer while Squirrelpaw and Stagpaw huddled closer together.

"ThunderClan," Cloudstar announced, "We are here to overtake your clan. Redstar has exiled us, and we have come to seek revenge."

"Murderer," growled Nettleclaw.

Stoatfur huffed, smiling.

Nettleclaw turned a cold gaze to them. "I killed Weaselwhisker in defense!" he snarled, "You killed a harmless cat!"

"Harmless?" asked Mousefang, "Sentencing our clan to death is harmless?"

"Stoatfur, Mousefang, come now!" Cloudstar meowed, glancing at each at them. He then turned cold blue eyes to the gray tabby. "Don't let your father's killer run free."

The two didn't even look at eachother to see the other's move. As if they were the same cat, they leaped at Nettleclaw at the same time, dragging him to the ground. Mousefang tore at his throat while Stoatfur ripped down his stomach. It wasn't very long before Nettleclaw sputtered and his eyes lost their life.

The brown she-cat in the nursery let out a cry, but the tom in there with her but his head over her's, stopping her from running to avenge the tom Birdflight assumed was her mate. Cloudstar strut forward.

"Would anyone else like to object?" he turned to Rainleap, "Seedpelt, perhaps?"

Rainleap loosened her grip on the she-cat's head, though shifted her body on top of hers to keep her from running. Seedpelt's green eyes were wide, but she shook her head. Amberclaw stood, but Mousefang sprung and held him down before he could pull anything.

Cloudstar smiled, facing the horrified crowd of unsuspecting warriors from each clan.

"Seedpelt will stay alive," he explained, "Only so she may attend Gatherings. She will be Seedstar, however, she will not receive nine lives," he turned back to her, "If you _do _get your lives, my warriors will take them all from you. We've done it before, do you understand?"

Seedpelt nodded.

"You also won't mention our takeover at Gatherings," Cloudstar went on. She nodded again. Kestrelwing met Cloudstar's gaze.

"I assume the same for me?" the medicine cat asked, "I attend half-moon meetings and don't mention this?"

Cloudstar straightened, "That's right. We'll have ears to follow you, just in case. Shadows aren't only wielded by one clan, and last I recalled," he faced Nightfur, "We had one _very _battle-hungry black cat."

Nightfur lifted his head proudly and gained that grin again. Birdflight could see Seedpelt tremble.

Cloudstar looked around, nodding. "Good. Good. Now, bury Redstar and Nettleclaw, Kestrelwing and Fawnstep can get to work on injuries."

Birdflight shifted awkwardly as Fawnstep stiffly stood and headed toward the other cat's den. Cloudstar took a few steps closer to his mate, facing her with an emotion in his eyes Birdflight had _never _seen before. His voice was low as he spoke, so low that no other cat would hear him.

"Tell the stars we've finally won."


End file.
